What happened
Long-suffering tech stock investors had to endure yet another painful trading session on Tuesday. Apple (AAPL -1.92%) shareholders saw their company lose nearly 2% of its value. That performance was relatively good on a day when a profit warning from Snap resulted in the social media stock’s worst trading day ever, crumbling by 43% and dragging many other tech titles deep into the red along with it.
So what
Limiting the damage to Apple was a glowing research note from Bank of America. The big lender’s analyst Wamsi Mohan reiterated his buy rating on the star tech stock, and his $200 price target.
Image source: Getty Images.
Mohan believes that the company has several strong tailwinds, including growth in user count and App Store revenue improvement.
The analyst was particularly encouraged by developments with the App Store. Revenue for the mobile marketplace rose a robust 7% year over year in the January-through-April period of 2022.
Much of this comes from the Chinese market, which is apparently home to a great many eager Apple users in search of something good to play. Mohan cited data indicating that gaming apps alone have seen growth of 13% to date in the company’s current quarter.
Now what
The analyst explained in his note that the “Chinese government lifted its nine-month new gaming licensing ban, approving 45 titles.”
Therefore, he concluded, “Given the slightly favorable stance from regulators and ongoing lockdowns in China, we potentially see upside to the China App Store growth in [the fiscal second half of 2022].”
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